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yermom
3/9/2009, 09:05 AM
or

"Why Obama and Rush Are Perfect Together"

http://www.newsweek.com/id/188279

(written by a conservative Republican)

i'm sure he'll be labelled a RINO in under 3 posts ;)

JohnnyMack
3/9/2009, 09:06 AM
:pop:

XingTheRubicon
3/9/2009, 09:45 AM
Only a liberal can write an "I told you so" article while his party is bankrupting the world.

yermom
3/9/2009, 10:22 AM
which liberal is that?

badger
3/9/2009, 10:26 AM
The Republican Party right now is in desperate need of leadership. Rush is kind of the only one left standing after the past few atrocious years, so naturally everyone is calling him out as the Republican Party's new leader... in fun ways. (http://cagle.com/news/RingleaderRush/main.asp)

I don't think a radio talk show host should be considered the leader of a political party. I would prefer that they rally around someone who does more than talk. I know talk leads to action in many cases, but I'd rather the leader of the Republican Party be the one that takes action, rather talk about taking action.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 11:18 AM
The Republican Party right now is in desperate need of leadership. Rush is kind of the only one left standing after the past few atrocious years, so naturally everyone is calling him out as the Republican Party's new leader... in fun ways. (http://cagle.com/news/RingleaderRush/main.asp)

I don't think a radio talk show host should be considered the leader of a political party. I would prefer that they rally around someone who does more than talk. I know talk leads to action in many cases, but I'd rather the leader of the Republican Party be the one that takes action, rather talk about taking action.Not many can withstand the spears and arrows, so they don't come forward.

JohnnyMack
3/9/2009, 11:37 AM
I feel like there are some people who will emerge in the next few years (I don't see anyone coming forward with any staying power right now) as serious leaders of the party. Jindal and Palin are not going to be significant players in this party. My early prediction for the 2012 R Presidential candidates are: Gingrich, Pawlenty, Crist, Sanford and Rick Perry.

tommieharris91
3/9/2009, 11:46 AM
The 4th page of that article needs to be read by every conservative out there. The Republicans lost because they were unwilling to accept that the world has changed, and fresh ideas and faces are what is now needed. Reactionary "THIS WILL FAIL!!!1!!" messages push people away from the GOP.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 11:46 AM
I feel like there are some people who will emerge in the next few years (I don't see anyone coming forward with any staying power right now) as serious leaders of the party. Jindal and Palin are not going to be significant players in this party. My early prediction for the 2012 R Presidential candidates are: Gingrich, Pawlenty, Crist, Sanford and Rick Perry.Romney will be back. They didn't totally ruin him yet, and he's somebody the conservatives will back, better than any you mentioned, IMO.

yermom
3/9/2009, 11:47 AM
i'd like to hear more from Ron Paul

JohnnyMack
3/9/2009, 11:50 AM
Romney will be back. They didn't totally ruin him yet, and he's somebody the conservatives will back, better than any you mentioned, IMO.

I think he's a strong candidate, wonder if the religious right would nominate a mormon. I still don't think so.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 11:53 AM
I think he's a strong candidate, wonder if the religious right would nominate a mormon. I still don't think so.The MSM did their job, and made a big issue of it. I think he will get through that, this time around. A very sharp guy, IMO.

JohnnyMack
3/9/2009, 12:10 PM
The MSM did their job, and made a big issue of it. I think he will get through that, this time around. A very sharp guy, IMO.

I don't disagree that he's a sharp fella. I do disagree that it's somehow the media's fault the guy belongs to the mormon church.

King Crimson
3/9/2009, 12:12 PM
The MSM did their job, and made a big issue of it. I think he will get through that, this time around. A very sharp guy, IMO.

I don't think you can plausibly blame "Romney as Mormon" as an exclusively media issue (again, the MSM all-purpose scapegoat)....when, historically, exactly one POTUS hasn't been Protestant. There are clearly other factors at play in the last 230 years than the left-cabal of the MSM "elites" gunning down Mitt Romney....at least one of those is/has been the Evangelical Right.

Xstnlsooner
3/9/2009, 12:17 PM
i'd like to hear more from Ron Paul

me too. i like some of his ideas, but they are too radical for most,
especially his ideas about downsizing the government. he would
certainly bring about "change," if he got the chance.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 12:25 PM
I don't disagree that he's a sharp fella. I do disagree that it's somehow the media's fault the guy belongs to the mormon church.tag, you're it.

Pricetag
3/9/2009, 12:30 PM
tag, you're it.
Are you a non-Mormon Christian? Do you accept it as "real" Christianity? I'm not an expert, but it seems like it would be a real issue for any non-Mormon Christian. I don't see how it could possibly be blamed on the media.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 01:53 PM
Are you a non-Mormon Christian? Do you accept it as "real" Christianity? I'm not an expert, but it seems like it would be a real issue for any non-Mormon Christian. I don't see how it could possibly be blamed on the media.Whuut? I didn't see Johnny tag you. sleight of hand, I guess.

bri
3/9/2009, 02:02 PM
tag, you're it.


Whuut? I didn't see Johnny tag you. sleight of hand, I guess.

Ignorant sh*t like this is why I just neg you and save time by not trying to argue. People are trying to have a quasi-legitimate discussion, and you're turning it in to recess because years of talk radio have reduced your brain to mush.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 02:26 PM
Ignorant sh*t like this is why I just neg you and save time by not trying to argue. People are trying to have a quasi-legitimate discussion, and you're turning it in to recess because years of talk radio have reduced your brain to mush.No bri, it's because this is exactly the argument the left and their MSM used to foment the Christians in '08, leaving out the part that Romney is much closer to their philosophy of limited govt and free markets than anyone in the democrat party. It's just a tired old rant that the MSM will try again in '12. Will it work again? It might, but I'm guessing no.

SoonerProphet
3/9/2009, 02:31 PM
broken ****in' record. good lord get a new schtick.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 02:42 PM
broken ****in' record. good lord get a new schtick.Yes, tired argument. You're saying the same things I've seen on this subject, ad nauseum, and my responses are the same. Threadjack, anyone?

texas bandman
3/9/2009, 02:49 PM
In the days since I stumbled into this controversy, I've received a great deal of e-mail. (Most of it on days when Levin or Hannity or Hugh Hewitt or Limbaugh himself has had something especially disobliging to say about me.) Most of these e-mails say some version of the same thing: if you don't agree with Rush, quit calling yourself a conservative and get out of the Republican Party. There's the perfect culmination of the outlook Rush Limbaugh has taught his fans and followers: we want to transform the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan into a party of unanimous dittoheads—and we don't care how much the party has to shrink to do it. That's not the language of politics. It's the language of a cult.

RLIMC = unanimous dittohead

Scott D
3/9/2009, 02:58 PM
it's been well established that the former william favor is a cultist.

soonerscuba
3/9/2009, 03:00 PM
No bri, it's because this is exactly the argument the left and their MSM used to forment the Christians in '08, leaving out the part that Romney is much closer to their philosophy of limited govt and free markets than anyone in the democrat party. It's just a tired old rant that the MSM will try again in '12. Will it work again? It might, but I'm guessing no.I like how you believe Republicans are smart enough to run the government but too dumb to see past the tricksey MSMzzz. The sooner you admit that your liberal boogeymen are a scapegoat for bad policy, the better off you'll be. I would like to mention that I have no expectation of this ever happening and something inane to follow.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 03:22 PM
I like how you believe Republicans are smart enough to run the government but too dumb to see past the tricksey MSMzzz. The sooner you admit that your liberal boogeymen are a scapegoat for bad policy, the better off you'll be. I would like to mention that I have no expectation of this ever happening and something inane to follow.ssssssnzzzzzzzzz(huh)? Sorry I(and my clone, too) make you guys on the left so bonkers.

yermom
3/9/2009, 03:26 PM
that's the thing. Rush is on the radio to make noise and get people to listen. it doesn't matter that he is breaking up the party he says he subscribes to, or that he's not helping the country, he's making money hand over fist.

and Obama is the best thing to happen to him since Clinton

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 03:29 PM
yes, Obama is great for Rush. He's delighted Obama's pres. He couldn't be happier about it.(chuckle)

XingTheRubicon
3/9/2009, 03:32 PM
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7168/imagesize239x110.png (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imagesize239x110.png)
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8951/0201perfectstorm.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0201perfectstorm.jpg)

XingTheRubicon
3/9/2009, 03:39 PM
that's the thing. Rush is on the radio to make noise and get people to listen. it doesn't matter that he is breaking up the party he says he subscribes to, or that he's not helping the country, he's making money hand over fist.

and Obama is the best thing to happen to him since Clinton

Rush's current contract goes thru well after Obama will be voted out of office...2016 i think. So, no, I don't think Rush wanted Obama to win for any reason. I do agree, however, that Obama winning is good for Rush's ratings. So the EIB network or whoever his boss is may be making more revenue now having Rush call the play by play of the freak show that is Obama bankrupting the world.

Ike
3/9/2009, 03:39 PM
That should be required reading for damn near everyone...

I'm a somewhat liberal guy most of the time, and even I'm a little bit taken aback by how much and how quickly the current administration+congress has essentially gone down the lefty checklist of things to do. Some of them I think were needed. But all of them all at once? I'm not so sure. And unfortunately, the opposition party has been 100% ineffective. I get the feeling that Obama would like to have broader support, and is willing to make some comprimises to get it (which I would like to see), but that Pelosi is standing in the way of that with the Dem majority on her side, essentially daring the white house to veto something it wants. At least, I'd like to think thats the case...it may not be tho.

The republicans need to either find their voice or they are going to be completely marginalized. And they better figure out how to connect with the common taxpayer when they do. They need to figure out that figuring out health care costs is going to be a whole lot more important than tax cuts. Joe Taxpayer doesn't care where his cost saving is going to come from. And for most people, there is a lot more room to save the taxpayer money by lowering his health care costs than by cutting taxes.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/9/2009, 04:02 PM
Rush's current contract goes thru well after Obama will be voted out of office...2016 i think. So, no, I don't think Rush wanted Obama to win for any reason. I do agree, however, that Obama winning is good for Rush's ratings. So the EIB network or whoever his boss is may be making more revenue now having Rush call the play by play of the freak show that is Obama bankrupting the world.Lefties, this is the correct answer. It shouldn't have been necessary for anyone to spell it out for you.l

yermom
3/9/2009, 04:07 PM
I'm a somewhat liberal guy most of the time, and even I'm a little bit taken aback by how much and how quickly the current administration+congress has essentially gone down the lefty checklist of things to do. Some of them I think were needed. But all of them all at once? I'm not so sure.

why waste a crisis? ;)

Jerk
3/9/2009, 06:39 PM
The 4th page of that article needs to be read by every conservative out there. The Republicans lost because they were unwilling to accept that the world has changed, and fresh ideas and faces are what is now needed. Reactionary "THIS WILL FAIL!!!1!!" messages push people away from the GOP.

There is nothing "new" or "fresh" about what the Democrats are doing. It's been tried many times since, oh, I don't know, about the 1840's.

tommieharris91
3/9/2009, 07:39 PM
There is nothing "new" or "fresh" about what the Democrats are doing. It's been tried many times since, oh, I don't know, about the 1840's.
Actually the 1870's.

Anyway, the faces are new, fresh, different. A large part of the people who voted for Obama (college students and college educated) would have voted for Reagan and Bush 20-30 years ago. So, how do get a base of people that, for whatever reason, voted for Obama? Get those people to vote for the next R, and win the election.

The Democrats are doing a great job of pinning someone that 4 of 5 people do not like to a much broader section of people that Rush Limbaugh does not represent. Attaching all Republicans to someone with a history of prescription abuse and failed marriages doesn't help their image. What the Repubs have to do now is find someone both likable and with different ideas that still carry the overall philosophy of the party. For example, tax cuts for wind generator makers and manufacturers of solar panels. Things to spur clean energy generation and take us off of oil. If the oil companies want a piece of the tax cuts, they will have to adapt or die out.

Vaevictis
3/9/2009, 07:59 PM
There is nothing "new" or "fresh" about what the Democrats are doing. It's been tried many times since, oh, I don't know, about the 1840's.

So has all the deregulation, cheap credit and lower taxes lower taxes lower taxes at any cost mantra.

It's a shame that some people -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- don't get that the correct answer is somewhere in the middle.

(Not accusing anyone in particular here, just making a general statement.)

LosAngelesSooner
3/9/2009, 08:25 PM
Fy1G1qdvIAI&eurl

Jerk
3/9/2009, 08:43 PM
So has all the deregulation, cheap credit and lower taxes lower taxes lower taxes at any cost mantra.

It's a shame that some people -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- don't get that the correct answer is somewhere in the middle.

(Not accusing anyone in particular here, just making a general statement.)

What you talkin about, Willis? Obama and the dems are going to tax and spend us into oblivion, and most people here are cheering them on. Well, they seem to be, maybe that doesn't include you. But I don't see anyone calling for 'centrist' policies. I'm not sure where the 'middle' is anymore. I'm thinking Obama wants the entire country to be like Detroit - you know, that model of social utopia and economic justice.

I don't see how markets can be blamed for this when the government has had their hand in so many things (including lending practices) for so long. Oh well, it doesn't matter...I'm waiting for the T bond market to implode (please God let it happen)

Back to my Rum.

Jerk
3/9/2009, 08:56 PM
oh, and my point still stands. There's nothing 'new' about tax and spend. We tried that with Jimmy Carter.

I'm starting to think that the best combination in government is a Democrat President who's main interest is poontang, and a hard-core Republican Congress concerned with balanced budgets.

We dun good wit that.

yermom
3/9/2009, 09:23 PM
the quicker the party stops aligning with Rush and pushing him as a leader, the quicker they will be relevant again

i'd like some balance...

Veritas
3/9/2009, 11:05 PM
the quicker the party stops aligning with Rush and pushing him as a leader, the quicker they will be relevant again

i'd like some balance...
Too bad we all define "balance" differently

Whet
3/9/2009, 11:20 PM
the quicker the party stops aligning with Rush and pushing him as a leader, the quicker they will be relevant again

i'd like some balance...

I see you were taken in by the Whitehouse cabal!


http://images.politico.com/global/v3/homelogo.gif (http://www.politico.com/) Rush Job: Inside Dems' Limbaugh plan
By: Jonathan Martin
March 4, 2009 04:04 AM EST Democrats believe they have struck political gold by depicting Rush Limbaugh as the new face of the Republican Party, a full-scale effort first hatched by some of the most familiar names in politics and now being guided in part from inside the White House.
The strategy took shape after Democratic strategists Stanley Greenberg and James Carville included Limbaugh’s name in an October poll and learned their longtime tormentor was deeply unpopular with many Americans, especially younger voters. Then the conservative talk-radio host emerged as an unapologetic critic of Barack Obama shortly before his inauguration, when even many Republicans were showering him with praise.
Soon it clicked: Democrats realized they could roll out a new GOP bogeyman for the post-Bush era by turning to an old one in Limbaugh, a polarizing figure since he rose to prominence in the 1990s.

Limbaugh is embracing the line of attack, suggesting a certain symbiosis between him and his political adversaries.

"The administration is enabling me,” he wrote in an e-mail to POLITICO. “They are expanding my profile, expanding my audience and expanding my influence. An ever larger number of people are now being exposed to the antidote to Obamaism: conservatism, as articulated by me. An ever larger number of people are now exposed to substantive warnings, analysis and criticism of Obama's policies and intentions, a ‘story’ I own because the [mainstream media] is largely the Obama Press Office.”

The bigger, the better, agreed Carville. “It’s great for us, great for him, great for the press,” he said of Limbaugh. “The only people he’s not good for are the actual Republicans in Congress.”
If Limbaugh himself were to coin a phrase for it, he might call it Operation Rushbo – an idea that started out simply enough but quickly proved to be deeply resonant by a rapid succession of events, say Democrats inside and outside the West Wing.
The seeds were planted in October after Democracy Corps, the Democratic polling company run by Carville and Greenberg, included Limbaugh’s name in a survey and found that many Americans just don’t like him.

“His positives for voters under 40 was 11 percent,” Carville recalled with a degree of amazement, alluding to a question about whether voters had a positive or negative view of the talk show host.

Paul Begala, a close friend of Carville, Greenberg and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, said they found Limbaugh’s overall ratings were even lower than the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s controversial former pastor, and William Ayers, the domestic terrorist and Chicago resident who Republicans sought to tie to Obama during the campaign.

Then came what Begala called “the tripwire.”

“I hope he fails,” Limbaugh said of Obama on his show four days before the president was sworn in. It was a time when Obama’s approval ratings were soaring, but more than that, polls showed even people who didn’t vote for him badly wanted him to succeed, coming to office at a time of economic meltdown.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was the first to jump on the statement, sending the video to its membership to raise cash and stir a petition drive.
“We helped get the ball rolling on this because we’re looking and listening to different Republican voices around the country, and the one that was the loudest and getting the most attention was Rush Limbaugh,” explained DCCC chairman and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank run by former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta, also pounced on Limbaugh's "fail" line, drawing attention to it on their well-read blog.

Soon after, Americans United for Change, a liberal group, was airing Limbaugh’s statement in an ad aimed at pushing Senate Republicans to support the stimulus bill.

“It just cropped up out of how much play that comment was getting on the air,” said Brad Woodhouse, who runs the group and is about to take over as communications director at the Democratic National Committee. “When we did it and it generated so much press, it just started to snowball from there.”

But liberals quickly realized that trying to drive a wedge between congressional Republicans and Limbaugh was unlikely to work, and their better move was to paint the GOP as beholden to the talk show host.

This was driven home to them, according to one Democrat, when Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) took a shot at Limbaugh in late January only to appear on his program the next day and plead having momentarily had “foot-in-mouth disease.”

By February, Carville and Begala were pounding on Limbaugh frequently in their appearances on CNN.

Neither Democrat would say so, but a third source said the two also began pushing the idea of targeting Limbaugh in their daily phone conversations with Emanuel.

Conversations and email exchanges began taking place in and out of the White House not only between the old pals from the Clinton era but also including White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Woodhouse.

The White House needed no more convincing after Limbaugh’s hour-plus performance Saturday, celebrated on the right and mocked on the left, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he re-stated his hope Obama fails.
“He kicked this into full-gear at CPAC by reiterating it,” said a senior White House official of Limbaugh.

By Sunday morning, Emanuel elevated the strategy by bringing up the conservative talker, unprompted, on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and calling him the “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party.”

Even Republican National Chairman Michael Steele joined in with a surprising critique of Limbaugh as a mere “entertainer,” who is “ugly” and “incendiary.”
“He took a little match we had tossed on the leaves and poured gasoline on it,” said one Democrat of Steele.

Steele was forced into calling Limbaugh to apologize Monday, an embarrassing climb-down following the RNC chairman’s criticism of the conservative talk-show host.

But Democrats kept at it in rapid-fire succession, thrilled that Steele had validated their claim that Republicans were scared to cross Limbaugh.
Americans United for Change launched a new ad featuring Limbaugh’s CPAC appearance. A left-leaning media watchdog group began a new Limbaugh tracking homepage. Democratic National Chairman Tim Kaine tweaked Steele for his apology. Terry McAuliffe tried to inject Limbaugh into the Virginia governor’s race. The DCCC launched a new website, www.imsorryrush.com (http://www.imsorryrush.com), mocking the Republicans who have had to apologize to Limbaugh.

And Gibbs served up a made-for-cable-TV quote to end his daily briefing Tuesday.

“I was a little surprised at the speed in which Mr. Steele, the head of the RNC, apologized to the head of the Republican Party,” Gibbs quipped with a grin, before striding out of the press room.

David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager last year and a member of his inner circle still, will publish an op-ed in Wednesday’s Washington Post chiding Republicans for being “paralyzed with fear of crossing their leader.”

A senior White House aide has been tasked with helping to guide the Limbaugh strategy.

Outside, Americans United for Choice, a liberal group, and the Democratic National Committee are driving the message, in close consultation with the White House.

Democrats can barely suppress their smiles these days, overjoyed at the instant-ad imagery of Limbaugh clad in Johnny Cash-black at CPAC and, more broadly, at what they see as their success in managing to further marginalize a party already on the outs.

“I want to send Rush a bottle of vitamins,” said Begala. “We need him to stay healthy and loud and proud.”

With President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney out of the White House and Tom DeLay gone from Congress, the left had been suddenly absent an unpopular right-wing figure.

Few Americans know who the congressional Republican leaders are. Even Sarah Palin is now four time zones away from Washington.

Enter Limbaugh.

It’s something of a back to the future tactic for Democrats: painting the GOP as the party of the angry white male. But unlike Newt Gingrich or other prominent Republicans, Limbaugh doesn’t have to mind his tongue.

And the liberal political apparatus is at battle stations taking note of his every comment.

Media Matters, the left-leaning media watchdog and advocacy group, began a “Limbaugh Wire” web-site Tuesday to track him. “For a long time Americans haven’t really been aware that he’s so influential,” said Eric Burns, the group’s president.

Democrats are now working hard to ensure that changes.

“He’s driving the Republican reluctance to deal with Obama, which Americans want,” said Greenberg. “He’s the policeman [keeping them in line].”

They’ll all get a fresh hook for the story after Wednesday, when a Democratic polling firm goes into the field to test, among other things, Limbaugh’s standing with the public.

All the attention only offers upside for the buzz-hungry Limbaugh, said Carville.

“The television cameras just can’t stay away from him,” Carville said Tuesday, a day when cable news played images of Limbaugh seemingly on a loop. “Our strategy depends on him keeping talking, and I think we’re going to succeed.”

yermom
3/10/2009, 12:10 AM
Too bad we all define "balance" differently

"balance" meaning that the R's might actually do something if they vote together as a party

yermom
3/10/2009, 12:15 AM
I see you were taken in by the Whitehouse cabal!

what exactly was i taken by?

like i said, they are perfect for each other

i'm not sure how that article says anything different than what i did

you guys are calling out Obama for not debating this joker, like he deserves some sort of political respect.

LosAngelesSooner
3/10/2009, 03:32 AM
The funny thing is the slow realization I've witnessed as more and more of you start to realize just how centrist I actually am in my beliefs. It is to make me laugh...:D

JohnnyMack
3/10/2009, 09:24 AM
I'm starting to think that the best combination in government is a Democrat President who's main interest is poontang, and a hard-core Republican Congress concerned with balanced budgets.

We dun good wit that.

Werd.

I predict a congressional housecleaning in 2010. I think the Ds hold on to a paper thin majority but the speed at which they are spending is going to cost many their jobs.

JohnnyMack
3/10/2009, 09:25 AM
The funny thing is the slow realization I've witnessed as more and more of you start to realize just how centrist I actually am in my beliefs. It is to make me laugh...:D

No. You are either with them or you are against them.

Pricetag
3/10/2009, 12:55 PM
Only a Sith deals in absolutes!

Scott D
3/10/2009, 12:59 PM
What you talkin about, Willis? Obama and the dems are going to tax and spend us into oblivion, and most people here are cheering them on. Well, they seem to be, maybe that doesn't include you. But I don't see anyone calling for 'centrist' policies. I'm not sure where the 'middle' is anymore. I'm thinking Obama wants the entire country to be like Detroit - you know, that model of social utopia and economic justice.

I don't see how markets can be blamed for this when the government has had their hand in so many things (including lending practices) for so long. Oh well, it doesn't matter...I'm waiting for the T bond market to implode (please God let it happen)

Back to my Rum.

Since when has Detroit been "the model of social utopia and economic justice."? Wouldn't that be Austin? ;)

Problem is you have the dems who raise taxes and spend more. As compared to the reps who lower taxes and spend more. The obvious conclusion there is that it doesn't matter who controls the purse strings between those two parties because they both spend more. Why anyone continues to blindly support either is beyond me.

LosAngelesSooner
3/10/2009, 03:28 PM
Rush Limbaugh: Icon of Anti-Morality (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/rush-limbaugh-icon-of-ant_b_172900.html)

When Michael Steele, the hapless chairman of the Republican Party, lost his bearings and called Rush Limbaugh's style ugly and incendiary, everyone knew it was the truth. But it was a perfect example of an inconvenient truth. The right wing has long used ugly, incendiary speech the way baseball players use steroids: to artificially pump themselves up. Limbaugh has taken to saying that he wants Obama's policies to fail because they spell the end of an America based on personal freedom. This isn't just a grotesque exaggeration; it disguises the very thing the right wing has been doing when it curtailed civil liberties in the name of national security.

Yet I know people who listen to Limbaugh every morning. They don't believe a word he says. They deplore his rhetorical sins. They detect the whiff of hypocrisy. Basically, they tune in out of sheer incredulity.

Limbaugh has been plowing the field of moral outrage for decades, but unlike Billy Sunday and the other hot-headed radio preachers who cashed in on social resentment in the Great Depression, Limbaugh threw out God. With no religious tradition to anchor himself, he can swing wider. Anything Limbaugh judges against is condemned, not by scripture, but simply by him being pissed off. Whatever Limbaugh hates -- however petty, personal, and arbitrary his animus -- is ipso facto wrong.

This represents a huge social shift in American values. Before the Eighties there were a handful of right-wing outlets on the air; now there are well over a thousand. They exist purely as steam vents. The common citizen gets to be pissed off by the millions, unrelentingly, without cease or solution, and in return, he is praised. To be outraged is to be morally superior.

The Limbaugh effect fueled the anti-morality of the Bush years. Under ordinary morality, the wretched plight of illegal immigrants, for example, must be considered along with the fact that they are breaking the law. Being poor, illiterate, and desperate, their human condition makes them more sympathetic than ruthless lawbreakers would be. But under anti-morality, if you hate immigrants because they are foreigners who don't look American enough, the argument is over. Your anger strips away tolerance, sympathy, and regard for "the other." Hence the almost imperial bearing of Limbaugh, the bland certainty that because he never stops being angry, he never stops being right.

The same goes for a wide range of "others" who mightily tick off Limbaugh's listeners: Muslims, feminists, people of color, gays, and environmentalists. There's no need to understand them or try and accommodate their views. Just put them through the wringer of Limbaugh's perpetual judgment and, poof, there's no problem anymore. Of course, the whole scheme is delusional. Problems aren't solved by remaining perpetually ticked off. Accords can't be reached when you demonize the other side.

By any sane account, Rush Limbaugh is dead weight when it comes to finding a solution to anything. Like Sarah Palin, his spiritual bride, he lurks in the shadow of the human psyche, expressing the dark anger, resentment, jealousy, and vindictiveness that society can never escape. And yet, the next time you tune into Limbaugh's censorious circus of insensitive scurrility, give him a kind thought. As far back as Mark Twain, the American character has been ornery. We secretly love rascals, bank robbers, tricksters, swindlers, hell raisers, and outlaws. And when we feel so inclined, we laugh at them. Rush Limbaugh may represent a toxic form of entertainment -- and the bile he spews bears no resemblance to true morality -- but the fact that America makes room for him is something to be proud of. I don't pray that he goes away. I pray that we can keep laughing, even if our grin is crooked, at the pranks of the eternal shadow who is our companion for life, whether we want him or not.:)